The government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill was introduced to parliament yesterday (11 March) and included a number of changes designed to speed up housing delivery and grow the economy.
The Labour government say that the Bill will free projects from unnecessary bureaucracy and streamline the planning process in a bid to tackle the housing crisis and deliver vital developments such as roads, railway lines and windfarms.
The Bill will introduce a new strategic planning system that will determine which types of housing applications should be determined by officers and which should go to committee. It will also control the size of planning committees while providing mandatory training for committee members.
A Nature Restoration Fund will be established which aims to make it possible for housebuilders to meet their obligations faster by pooling contributions to fund larger environmental interventions. Housebuilders will be required to pay into a central fund instead of tackling environmental requirements on an individual basis, with a delivery body such as Natural England responsible for undertaking positive environmental outcomes.
The government will also reform the compulsory purchase process, which allows land to be acquired for projects that are in the public interest. This will include the removal of the ‘hope value’ of the land where justified to ensure that councils do not pay excessive costs. Local authorities will also no longer be required to seek permission from central government to make compulsory purchase orders.
The Bill will give more powers to Development Corporations which will make it easier to deliver large-scale development. This includes the government’s planned new towns, with the Corporations’ new powers enabling them to deliver well-designed communities that comprise affordable housing, schools, public transport and GP surgeries.
A system of strategic planning known as spatial development strategies will also be introduced across England with the aim of boosting growth by considering multiple local planning authorities to find the most suitable areas to build whilst ensuring cohesion between development needs and infrastructure requirements.
Deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, Angela Rayner said: “We’re creating the biggest building boom in a generation – as a major step forward in getting Britain building again and unleashing economic growth in every corner of the country, by lifting the bureaucratic burden which has been holding back developments for too long.”
“The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unleash seismic reforms to help builders get shovels in the ground quicker to build more homes, and the vital infrastructure we need to improve transport links and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect billpayers.”
“It will help us to deliver the 1.5 million homes we have committed to so we can tackle the housing crisis we have inherited head-on – not only for people desperate to buy a home, but for the families and young children stuck in temporary accommodation and in need of a safe, secure roof over their heads.”
“These reforms are at the heart of our Plan for Change, ensuring we are backing the builders, taking on the blockers, and delivering the homes and infrastructure this country so badly needs.”
